This invention relates to data networks.
In the last 20 years, Local Area Networks (LANs) have revolutionised the way in which computers have been used in the work place, and have allowed personal computers ("PC"s) and the client/server paradigm to replace to a large extent the mainframe/terminal technology prior to LANs. In a similar way, in the last 10 years, the MIDI network has revolutionised the production and performance of music, and created a huge market in MIDI-compatible equipment.
In a similar way, a home LAN could help to revolutionise home equipment, by bringing together computing and electronic entertainment. Such a network might link around the home digital TVs, a set-top box, digital VCR, CD player producing digital audio, PC, printer and ISDN router. Currently, there are multiple standards bodies examining home LANs, but no really strong contender for home LAN technology has emerged, and most proposals seem to have some drawbacks. The proposals tend to concentrate on carrying just video traffic and are not compatible with the Ethernet interfaces which are already installed or being installed in large numbers in the home, to connect PCs to printers and ISDN routers. These proposals ignore the fact that Ethernet is very widespread.